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Other life elsewhere in the Universe? We are not alone..
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Other life elsewhere in the Universe? We are not alone..Posted:
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So this forum is always filled with topics such as "Do you guys think there is other life in the Universe?", and I am in no way discrediting these topics, as I enjoy reading what people have to say on the topic. But I decided it was time to put this question to rest, to those of you who read this topic.
I will warn you now, this topic will not be short, and will in no way be a little bit of light reading, as I will be including as much detail as possible.
I have broken it up into sections, so you may pick and choose which parts you want to read, as there is a lot!
Paley's Watch and arguments against Extra-terrestrial life
So lets begin with an argument some people use to claim we are alone in the Universe. One example is the "Paley's Watch" Analogy. This is more an analogy used to give credit to a "Creator", but is also used in these terms. However, this analogy is where William Paley stated that if a watch was found on a beach, it would be logical to assume somebody had dropped it there, and had been created by a watchmaker, rather than made by natural forces. The watch being the analogy for human beings, as we are such an incredibly complex being, we could not have been created by chance.
People use this to say that, if it was natural forces that created us, as we are today, then the chances of that happening are so remotely small that it could never have happened anywhere else in the Universe!
How life (may have) begun
This, is where those people are (theoretically) wrong. First lets state that the main theory of how life first began, was that a huge number of random polymers were synthesized, either near hydro-thermal vents in the deep ocean, or within hot springs, that had random amino acids within them, as well as a high temperature, which would have been necessary for this process to happen. These polymers would then have been subject to natural selection and evolution, thus starting the life process.
Probability of other life starting, on a similar planet to our own
To emphasize the point, I will severely bias the maths I will shortly use, towards the side that there is no life elsewhere in the Universe, to give alien life the worst possible chance there is!
Firstly, we will assume that only life that obeys the same rules as our own life is possible to exist. I.e, breathes oxygen, is made up of mostly carbon, etc.
So, we will state a probability of the chance of; a planet of similar size to our own, orbiting a star of similar size to our own, within the Goldilocks Zone of that star, with the right makeup of gases in the atmosphere, and enough carbon and other necessary minerals for life to begin, I.e, an Earth-like planet, at 1 in 10,000,000,000,000,000 (1 in 10 quadrillion).
This, in my opinion, is a HUGE overestimate, and is still just an estimate for life following the rules we see with common life on our planet, even though, the fact of the matter is, life does not have to obey our rules. For example, on our planet, there is a type of bug that breathes an gas that is extremely toxic to us, I cannot remember which gas however unfortunately, or the name of the bug.
How big the Universe really is
Now onto the true size of the Universe. There are well over 100 billion Galaxies, in just the observable Universe. Some estimates range up to 170 billion Galaxies, in the observable Universe alone. However once again, we'll take the lowest estimate of 100 billion Galaxies.
Now in every Galaxies, there are an average of between 500 billion and 1 trillion stars. As Galaxies range from just around 10 million stars, to 100 trillion stars. But we'll take an average of 500 billion stars for each galaxy.
Now due to the nature of which stars are "born", it is likely that there is at least one planet surrounding each star. It is also likely that the fact that we have 8 planets in our solar system, is by no means abnormal.
N.B. We have only found, in the order of, thousands of other planets in the Universe, but this is simply because of how difficult it is to spot planets orbiting a star, especially planets of roughly the Earth's size. An analogy I've heard, is it's likely putting a 5x5 foot floodlight 100m away from you, and trying to spot a pinhead through the glare, with the naked eye. We are, however, finding better ways at identifying other planets orbiting their star.
However, once again, we'll take the lowest estimate of there just being one star surrounding every star in the Universe, and therefore, we're taking into account just 500 billion planets.
The maths, and how many other planets there could be with life on
So, using these minimalistic numbers, we reach a low estimate of roughly 5x10^22 stars, or, 50,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 stars, or 50 sextillion stars, and therefore 50 sextilliion planets.
So if we now apply the probability of life occurring, to the number of planets, we get 5 million planets of which this probability satisfies! I.e, 5 million planets where life, very similar to our own, would have occurred, according to the probability.
So to very simply sum that up, yes. There is other life elsewhere in the Universe. It is simply not mathematically possible for there not to be. The sheer scale of the Universe is just far too large for us to be the only living things.
Ending notes
Now I would finally like to note, that it is probably more likely that there are in the order of 50 septillion stars, or rather 50,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000, and possibly even breaking into the octillions! Also, the probability of life occurring, in any form, regardless of whether it follows our rules or not, is far too high, and would probably run down into the trillions, rather than being in the order of 10s of quadrillions*. It is also more likely that there are multiple planets around every star.
So if we used more realistic values, the probability would satisfy hundreds of billions of planets, if not trillions. Which is why I believe there may be other, possibly intelligent life, in our Galaxy alone.
I quite purposefully did not bring religion into this, and have no intention of starting a religion war, there is no need, religion is not a factor on this topic in my opinion.
*This probability number, is unfortunately unknown. I have applied my knowledge of Physics and Biology to give the closest estimate I can. I think I over estimated, but it is still possible that I underestimated, even if this were the case, there would still be millions, if not still billions, of planets which satisfy the probability, when not underestimating how many planets there are etc.
Hoping this topic helped
So, I hope this helped answer your question. Or if you were sitting on the fence as to you weren't sure whether there was extra-terrestrial life, then I hope this topic helped you make your mind up.
If you have any questions regarding this topic, or feel like I have missed something out and should add another section, feel free to ask below. And if you have any other questions you feel I may be able to help you with, feel free to PM me.
"Key"
Grammar:
I.e - "Id est" - A Latin phrase meaning "That is"
N.B. - "Nota Bene" - A Latin phrase meaning "Note well".
Numbers:
No. of zeros:.......Name:
6...................Million
9...................Billion
12..................Trillion
15..................Quadrillion
18..................Quintillion
21..................Sextillion
24..................Septillion
27..................Octillion
30..................Nonillion
33..................Decillion
Last edited by Euler ; edited 2 times in total
I will warn you now, this topic will not be short, and will in no way be a little bit of light reading, as I will be including as much detail as possible.
I have broken it up into sections, so you may pick and choose which parts you want to read, as there is a lot!
Paley's Watch and arguments against Extra-terrestrial life
So lets begin with an argument some people use to claim we are alone in the Universe. One example is the "Paley's Watch" Analogy. This is more an analogy used to give credit to a "Creator", but is also used in these terms. However, this analogy is where William Paley stated that if a watch was found on a beach, it would be logical to assume somebody had dropped it there, and had been created by a watchmaker, rather than made by natural forces. The watch being the analogy for human beings, as we are such an incredibly complex being, we could not have been created by chance.
People use this to say that, if it was natural forces that created us, as we are today, then the chances of that happening are so remotely small that it could never have happened anywhere else in the Universe!
How life (may have) begun
This, is where those people are (theoretically) wrong. First lets state that the main theory of how life first began, was that a huge number of random polymers were synthesized, either near hydro-thermal vents in the deep ocean, or within hot springs, that had random amino acids within them, as well as a high temperature, which would have been necessary for this process to happen. These polymers would then have been subject to natural selection and evolution, thus starting the life process.
Probability of other life starting, on a similar planet to our own
To emphasize the point, I will severely bias the maths I will shortly use, towards the side that there is no life elsewhere in the Universe, to give alien life the worst possible chance there is!
Firstly, we will assume that only life that obeys the same rules as our own life is possible to exist. I.e, breathes oxygen, is made up of mostly carbon, etc.
So, we will state a probability of the chance of; a planet of similar size to our own, orbiting a star of similar size to our own, within the Goldilocks Zone of that star, with the right makeup of gases in the atmosphere, and enough carbon and other necessary minerals for life to begin, I.e, an Earth-like planet, at 1 in 10,000,000,000,000,000 (1 in 10 quadrillion).
This, in my opinion, is a HUGE overestimate, and is still just an estimate for life following the rules we see with common life on our planet, even though, the fact of the matter is, life does not have to obey our rules. For example, on our planet, there is a type of bug that breathes an gas that is extremely toxic to us, I cannot remember which gas however unfortunately, or the name of the bug.
How big the Universe really is
Now onto the true size of the Universe. There are well over 100 billion Galaxies, in just the observable Universe. Some estimates range up to 170 billion Galaxies, in the observable Universe alone. However once again, we'll take the lowest estimate of 100 billion Galaxies.
Now in every Galaxies, there are an average of between 500 billion and 1 trillion stars. As Galaxies range from just around 10 million stars, to 100 trillion stars. But we'll take an average of 500 billion stars for each galaxy.
Now due to the nature of which stars are "born", it is likely that there is at least one planet surrounding each star. It is also likely that the fact that we have 8 planets in our solar system, is by no means abnormal.
N.B. We have only found, in the order of, thousands of other planets in the Universe, but this is simply because of how difficult it is to spot planets orbiting a star, especially planets of roughly the Earth's size. An analogy I've heard, is it's likely putting a 5x5 foot floodlight 100m away from you, and trying to spot a pinhead through the glare, with the naked eye. We are, however, finding better ways at identifying other planets orbiting their star.
However, once again, we'll take the lowest estimate of there just being one star surrounding every star in the Universe, and therefore, we're taking into account just 500 billion planets.
The maths, and how many other planets there could be with life on
So, using these minimalistic numbers, we reach a low estimate of roughly 5x10^22 stars, or, 50,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 stars, or 50 sextillion stars, and therefore 50 sextilliion planets.
So if we now apply the probability of life occurring, to the number of planets, we get 5 million planets of which this probability satisfies! I.e, 5 million planets where life, very similar to our own, would have occurred, according to the probability.
So to very simply sum that up, yes. There is other life elsewhere in the Universe. It is simply not mathematically possible for there not to be. The sheer scale of the Universe is just far too large for us to be the only living things.
Ending notes
Now I would finally like to note, that it is probably more likely that there are in the order of 50 septillion stars, or rather 50,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000, and possibly even breaking into the octillions! Also, the probability of life occurring, in any form, regardless of whether it follows our rules or not, is far too high, and would probably run down into the trillions, rather than being in the order of 10s of quadrillions*. It is also more likely that there are multiple planets around every star.
So if we used more realistic values, the probability would satisfy hundreds of billions of planets, if not trillions. Which is why I believe there may be other, possibly intelligent life, in our Galaxy alone.
I quite purposefully did not bring religion into this, and have no intention of starting a religion war, there is no need, religion is not a factor on this topic in my opinion.
*This probability number, is unfortunately unknown. I have applied my knowledge of Physics and Biology to give the closest estimate I can. I think I over estimated, but it is still possible that I underestimated, even if this were the case, there would still be millions, if not still billions, of planets which satisfy the probability, when not underestimating how many planets there are etc.
Hoping this topic helped
So, I hope this helped answer your question. Or if you were sitting on the fence as to you weren't sure whether there was extra-terrestrial life, then I hope this topic helped you make your mind up.
If you have any questions regarding this topic, or feel like I have missed something out and should add another section, feel free to ask below. And if you have any other questions you feel I may be able to help you with, feel free to PM me.
"Key"
Grammar:
I.e - "Id est" - A Latin phrase meaning "That is"
N.B. - "Nota Bene" - A Latin phrase meaning "Note well".
Numbers:
No. of zeros:.......Name:
6...................Million
9...................Billion
12..................Trillion
15..................Quadrillion
18..................Quintillion
21..................Sextillion
24..................Septillion
27..................Octillion
30..................Nonillion
33..................Decillion
Last edited by Euler ; edited 2 times in total
The following 3 users thanked Euler for this useful post:
#2. Posted:
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Very interesting bro, but I think Jesus made everything to where we are today.
Note: I don't believe in the religion but I do for some strange reason.
Note: I don't believe in the religion but I do for some strange reason.
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Anyone who does not believe that there is life elsewhere in the universe is just plain arrogant, FACT!
Just the other day i was reading an article which noted that there could possibly be 60 BILLION earth-like planets in our galaxy alone.
And remember life does not have to be of human form etc. I am talking on a microscopic level.
Just the other day i was reading an article which noted that there could possibly be 60 BILLION earth-like planets in our galaxy alone.
And remember life does not have to be of human form etc. I am talking on a microscopic level.
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Thanks for this, you made it a lot easier for me to understand.
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Didact wrote Anyone who does not believe that there is life elsewhere in the universe is just plain arrogant, FACT!
Just the other day i was reading an article which noted that there could possibly be 60 BILLION earth-like planets in our galaxy alone.
And remember life does not have to be of human form etc. I am talking on a microscopic level.
That is very interesting, but yet would definitely not surprise me. Out of roughly 500 billion stars in the Milky Way, it would not surprise me for there to be 60 billion earth-like planets. Even if it were only 60 million earth-like planets in our Galaxy alone, that would still be extremely significant.
However I strongly believe there is other intelligent life in our Galaxy alone. However I would just like to clarify what I mean by intelligent life, I mean anything from the same level of intelligence of animals on our planet, to beings as intelligent if not more intelligent than us.
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Well I've just spent the last 20 minutes reading all of this and making sure I understand it all.
I've always believed in aliens elsewhere in our Universe, but could never really justify properly why I did believe in them.
Do you believe aliens have visited Earth?
I've always believed in aliens elsewhere in our Universe, but could never really justify properly why I did believe in them.
Do you believe aliens have visited Earth?
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People have to take how big the universe is into consideration (people that don't believe in aliens.) Trillion upon trillions of stars with planets orbiting around them. You have to be ignorant to believe we are the only ones.
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Diligent wrote People have to take how big the universe is into consideration (people that don't believe in aliens.) Trillion upon trillions of stars with planets orbiting around them. You have to be ignorant to believe we are the only ones.
This is exactly what I'm talking about, the Universe is simply far too large for there to be any chance of there not being any other life out there. To put it like this, I put an estimate on there being an absolute minimum of 50 sextillion planets. That being an absolute minimum, this number could even run into the septillions, possibly even octillions.
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Euler wroteDidact wrote Anyone who does not believe that there is life elsewhere in the universe is just plain arrogant, FACT!
Just the other day i was reading an article which noted that there could possibly be 60 BILLION earth-like planets in our galaxy alone.
And remember life does not have to be of human form etc. I am talking on a microscopic level.
That is very interesting, but yet would definitely not surprise me. Out of roughly 500 billion stars in the Milky Way, it would not surprise me for there to be 60 billion earth-like planets. Even if it were only 60 million earth-like planets in our Galaxy alone, that would still be extremely significant.
However I strongly believe there is other intelligent life in our Galaxy alone. However I would just like to clarify what I mean by intelligent life, I mean anything from the same level of intelligence of animals on our planet, to beings as intelligent if not more intelligent than us.
Well there is a planet made of diamond. So I strongly believe anything is possible.
Besides the universe is just phenomenally big. Like crazy.
If the universe was 10^10^80 metres across we would start seeing duplicates.
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We aren't alone in this universe haha.
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